The riverboat that killed more Union POWs than any Confederate prison in 1865

The Sultana Steamboat Disaster

The Sultana steamboat blew up on April 27, 1865, killing about 1,700 people. Most victims were Union soldiers heading home after being freed from Confederate prison camps. This remains the worst shipping disaster in American history.

Few people heard about it then because it happened right after the Civil War ended. News about President Lincoln’s assassination and the death of his killer John Wilkes Booth filled the newspapers instead.

A Dangerously Overcrowded Vessel

The Sultana was built to hold 376 people. Captain J. Cass Mason packed over 2,000 freed Union prisoners onto the boat, plus 200 civilians and crew members. Soldiers crammed onto every deck with no room to move.

Many stood for the entire trip. The boat tilted from side to side as people shifted their weight. Witnesses said the decks sagged under the weight of so many passengers.

The Fatal Boiler Repair

The Sultana stopped at Vicksburg on April 23 with a serious boiler problem. Boilermaker R.G. Taylor found cracks in the metal sheets of one boiler. Taylor told Captain Mason the damaged sheets needed full replacement.

Mason refused this advice. A proper repair would take days, and Mason feared losing his human cargo to other steamboats waiting at the dock. He ordered a quick patch instead.

Bribery For Profit

The government paid steamboat captains $5 for each enlisted man and $10 for each officer they carried north. With thousands of prisoners waiting in Vicksburg, Captain Mason saw a chance for big money.

Mason bribed Union officer Captain Reuben Hatch to send all prisoners to the Sultana. Two other steamboats left Vicksburg at the same time with plenty of room but no prisoners.

Hatch had been fired for fraud before but got his job back through political friends.

The Last Night In Memphis

The Sultana reached Memphis around 7:00 PM on April 26. Workers unloaded 300,000 pounds of sugar from the cargo hold during this stop.

Taking this heavy weight off the bottom made the already unstable boat even more top-heavy.

After loading coal for fuel, the Sultana left Memphis around 1:00 AM on April 27. The boat fought against the strong river current as it headed north.

The Catastrophic Explosion

At 2:00 AM on April 27, three of the Sultana’s four boilers exploded one after another. The blast tore upward through the decks packed with sleeping soldiers. The explosion destroyed the pilothouse where the captain steered the boat.

It ripped a huge 30-foot hole in the middle of the steamboat. With no one able to control it, the Sultana drifted helplessly in the swift current.

Immediate Deaths From The Explosion

About 400 people died instantly when the boilers blew up. The explosion shot hot steam, boiling water, and metal pieces through the crowded decks.

Kentucky and Tennessee soldiers sleeping near the boilers died first. Many victims had survived battlefield fighting and months in harsh prison camps only to die in seconds on what should have been their journey home.

Fire Consumes The Wooden Vessel

The explosion started a fire that spread quickly through the wooden boat. Flames trapped many survivors who could not reach the sides to jump off. Both tall smokestacks fell during the fire, killing more people.

One smokestack crashed onto the crowded deck, while the other fell into the hole made by the explosion. The Sultana became a floating fire with no way to steer or stop.

Desperate Struggle In The Flooded Mississippi

Hundreds jumped from the burning boat into the cold Mississippi River. Spring floods had made the river overflow its banks, creating dangerous conditions. The shoreline was over four miles away in some spots.

Many jumped thinking land was nearby but found only water. Survivors who escaped the fire now faced drowning, freezing, or injury in the fast-moving water filled with tree branches and debris.

Rescue Efforts Begin

The steamboat Bostona No. 2 spotted the burning Sultana about 90 minutes after the explosion. Its crew threw doors, planks, and chairs into the water for survivors to grab. The Bostona headed to Memphis to spread the alarm while still helping people.

Word reached Memphis when a teenage survivor floated to the waterfront and told guards about the disaster. Several boats then launched from Memphis to search for survivors.

Former Enemies Unite In Rescue

Recently discharged Confederate soldiers rushed to help Union survivors along both shores. Men who fought against each other just weeks earlier now worked together pulling people from the water.

Survivors clung to partly underwater trees along the flooded riverbanks. Some sang to keep their spirits up in the darkness. Farmer John Fogleman and his sons saved the last survivors from the bow of the burning boat around 7:00 AM using a simple raft.

Visiting Sultana Disaster Museum, Arkansas

You’ll find the Sultana Disaster Museum at 104 Washington Street in Marion, Arkansas, just across the Mississippi River from Memphis. The museum houses genuine artifacts recovered from survivors, including furnace bricks and metal pieces from the steamboat.

A highlight of your visit will be the impressive 14-foot model replica showing the overcrowded Sultana. Take time to view the memorial wall listing every passenger and crew member aboard on that tragic day.

Read More from WhenInYourState.com:

• Confederate Cherokee Warriors Fought With Southern Troops at This Arkansas Battlefield That Decided the West
• 9 Black Students Faced Angry Mobs Just to Attend This Arkansas High School in 1957
• This Living Arkansas Cave Hasn’t Stopped Growing in 350 Million Years & Counting